DTN News - ITALIAN DEFENSE NEWS: Obama Set To Arm Italy's Drones In Milestone Move

DTN News - ITALIAN DEFENSE NEWS:  Obama Set To Arm Italy's Drones In Milestone Move

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 31, 2012: President Barack Obama's administration appears set to notify the U.S. Congress of plans to arm a fleet of Italian MQ-9 Reaper drones, a step that may spur a wider spread of remotely piloted hunter-killer aircraft.

The administration could move ahead within two weeks on the proposal to let Italy join Britain in deploying U.S. drones with weapons such as laser-guided bombs and Hellfire missiles, American officials said.

Italy has a fleet of six Reapers. The sale of the technology to arm them, including bomb racks and "weaponization" kits costing up to $17 million, would help the United States redistribute the burden of its global military operations as the Pentagon's budget is being squeezed by deficit-reduction requirements.

Aides to Obama have been informally consulting the House of Representatives' and Senate's foreign affairs committees about the proposed sale to Italy since last year, congressional staff said.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-italian-defense-news-obama-set.html

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: Marjana Simonovska Member Of Scorpions Special Unit In Macedonia's army Part Of NATO Mission Serving In Afghanistan

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: Marjana Simonovska Member Of Scorpions Special Unit In Macedonia's army Part Of NATO Mission Serving In Afghanistan

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 30, 2012: Marjana Simonovska stands at a NATO base in Kabul January 19, 2012. Simonovska is a senior sergeant in Macedonia's army and a member of the Scorpions special unit, who spent six months this year serving in Afghanistan as part of the NATO mission. Married with two children, she was part of an operation to secure the alliance's main headquarters in Kabul together with the other 177 Macedonian soldiers serving under NATO. 

Macedonia, a landlocked country with population of 2 million, is a NATO candidate country, but has failed to join the alliance due to Greek objections over the country's name. Burdened by ethnic tensions, frustrations in the small Balkan country are rising over widespread poverty and the slow pace of integration in the European Union and NATO. Greek objections derailed the former Yugoslav republic's bid to join NATO in 2008, and no progress was made during a summit of the Western alliance in Chicago early this week. Picture taken January 19, 2012.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-afghan-war-news-nato-strike.html

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: NATO Strike Kills al-Qaeda No. 2 In Afghanistan Near Pakistan Border

DTN News - AFGHAN WAR NEWS: NATO Strike Kills al-Qaeda No. 2 In Afghanistan Near Pakistan Border

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - May 30, 2012: Soldier Marjana Simonovska (2nd L) walks with members of her team during an army combat training at an area simulating an Afghan village with the Scorpions special unit in Stip,120 km (75 miles) east from capital Skopje May 27, 2011. Simonovska is a senior sergeant in Macedonia's army and a member of the Scorpions special unit, who spent six months this year serving in Afghanistan as part of the NATO mission. Married with two children, she was part of an operation to secure the alliance's main headquarters in Kabul together with the other 177 Macedonian soldiers serving under NATO.

 Macedonia, a landlocked country with population of 2 million, is a NATO candidate country, but has failed to join the alliance due to Greek objections over the country's name. Burdened by ethnic tensions, frustrations in the small Balkan country are rising over widespread poverty and the slow pace of integration in the European Union and NATO. Greek objections derailed the former Yugoslav republic's bid to join NATO in 2008, and no progress was made during a summit of the Western alliance in Chicago early this week. Picture taken May 27, 2011.

http://defense-technologynews.blogspot.ca/2012/05/dtn-news-afghan-war-news-nato-strike.html